The range of social status and degrees of responsibility of persons so titled varied greatly, from the humble—the equivalents of the Englishreeve or bailiff—to the very elevated. At the upper end of its social range the office of Vogt was frequently held by noble and princely families in relation to ecclesiastical territories, a position which such families often exploited to their own advantage, and it is in this connection that it is most commonly referred to.

The concept of the Vogt was related to the Old German idea of the Munt, or guardian, but also included some ideas of physical defence and legal representation (whence the connection with advocatus or 'advocate').

From the time of Charlemagne, who had such officials appointed in ecclesiastical territories not directly under the control of his counts, the Vogt was a state functionary representing ecclesiastical dignitaries (such as bishops and abbots) or institutions in secular matters, and particularly before secular courts. Such representatives had been assigned to the church since late antiquity, as it was not supposed to act for itself in worldly affairs. Therefore, in areas such as the territories of abbeys and bishoprics, which by virtue of their ecclesiastical status were free (or immune) from the secular government of the local count (Graf, in origin an administrative official in charge of a territory and reporting to the emperor), the Vogt fulfilled the function of a protective lordship, generally commanding the military contingents of such areas (Schirmvogtei). Beyond that, he administered the high justice instead of the count from the Vogt court (Vogtgericht or Blutgericht).

In the German-ruled Holy Roman Empire, the term Vogt can refer to two different offices: church vogt or imperial vogt. Imperial vogts are further subdivided into land vogts and city vogts. In addition, the term vogt was used for administrative officers of territorial rulers, such as bailiffs.

In private and family monasteries (see proprietary church) the proprietor himself often also held the office of Vogt, frequently retaining it after reform of the proprietorship (see also Lay abbot).

The three-way struggle for control of the Vogtei of the more important abbacies, played out among the central monarchy, the Church and the territorial nobility,[1] was pretty well established as a prorogative of the nobility; the Hirsau formulary (1075) confirmed count Adalbert of Calw as hereditary advocate of the Abbey, an agreement so widely copied elsewhere in Germany that from the tenth century the office developed into an hereditary possession of the higher nobility, who frequently exploited it as a way of extending their power and territories, and in some cases took for themselves the estates and assets of the church bodies for whose protection they were supposedly responsible. In Austria, the teaching of the Church that, according to canon law individuals were prohibited from exercising authority over Church property, was only with reluctance accepted by the nobles. The rights of advocacy were bought back by the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century abbeys in alliance with the Babenberg and early Habsburg dukes; the abolition of the Vogtei (Entvogtung) thereby exchanged local secular jurisdiction for the protective overlordship of the duke of Austria, sometimes by forging charters that the duke confirmed.[2]

An imperial vogt (Reichsvogt) was an officer of the king, who served as administrator and judge of a subdivision of royal property, or of a royal abbey. The seat of an imperial vogt was often at an imperial city. When the imperial cities gained more independence, the office was split into city vogt (Stadtvogt) for the cities and land vogt (Landvogt) for other areas. The offices of city vogts were usually bought by the imperial cities by the late Middle Ages, which led to the independence of the cities. Most land vogt offices became meaningless as the amount of royal property was reduced more and more in favor of territorial rulers (such as dukes and counts).

The land vogt office of the Alsace, consisting of the ten imperial cities of the Décapole, was ceded to the king of France in 1648, but the cities remained part of the Holy Roman Empire. However, the cities were soon thereafter annexed by France.

Several small land vogts continued to exist until the end of the Empire in 1806, mainly in the Swabian Circle.

The title of Landvogt appears in the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1415. A Landvogt ruled a Landvogtei, either representing a sovereign canton, or acting on behalf of the Confederacy, or a subset thereof, administering a condominium (Gemeine Herrschaft) shared between several cantons. In the case of condominiums, the cantons took turns in appointing a Landvogt for a period of two years.

In exceptional cases, the population of the Landvogtei was allowed to elect their own Landvogt. This concerned Oberhasli in particular, which was nominally a subject territory of Berne, but enjoyed a special status as a military ally. The office of Landvogt was abolished in 1798, with the foundation of the Helvetic Republic.

Although the title of Duke of Burgundy was extinguished by the French king after the annexation of its ancestral lands in 1477, the Habsburg kings of Spain and archdukes of Austria continued to use the title to refer to their realms in the Netherlands. The monarchs reigning in Madrid and Vienna controlled these through governors known variously as landvoogd or gouverneur-generaal.

The status of protective lordship, however, in relation to ecclesiastical estates as held, and notoriously abused, by the nobility in Germany throughout the Middle Ages, is without close parallel. There is no single equivalent in English history. The office of reeve was much the same at a village or peasant level, and in other contexts the roles of sheriff, bailiff, seneschal and castellan of course included similar elements. In France, the office of vidame, the temporal administrator for certain bishoprics, showed some connection. The most frequent translations in that connection are either advocate or lord protector.

In medieval Poland the title of Wójt was used to denote hereditary heads of towns (under the overlordship of the town's owner – the King, the Church or a nobleman). Today Wójt denotes the elected mayor of a rural commune (gmina), i.e. one consisting only of villages (mayors of towns and cities take different titles).

In Danish the word vogt carries different connotations, all pertaining to guarding or keeping watch over something. In modern Danish law, the fogedret (vogt court) administers the forcible enforcement and execution of judgments or other valid legal claims.

The local bailiff (distrainer) is called kihlakunnanvouti, where kihlakunta (hundred) is a local judicial district. Their duty is to enforce the financial judgements of the local courts. In practice, the vouti leads a team of assistant distrainers who process most distrainments/garnishments.

In modern Dutch the word voogd is the primary word for the concept of legal guardian. In historic texts, "Landvoogd" or "Landvoogdes" in the feminine form is used. Especially as the main title of Margaret of Parma.